


Peppermint Tea

by curiosityy



Category: Gorillaz
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Band, Child Abuse, Developing Friendships, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Beta Read, Protective Murdoc Niccals, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-15 11:57:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16062638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curiosityy/pseuds/curiosityy
Summary: Murdoc Niccals wants nothing more than to escape school and his abusive house to start a band. His goal is to prove the people who doubted him wrong, but he had to get there first.He finds himself in Tusspot Cafe when he's escaping boys that he pissed off. There he meets an attractive bright blue haired and dark blue-eyed teenager. He calls him Pretty Boy, ever since the first day, he finds himself going to the cafe more and more. And as much as he convinces himself it's not because of Pretty Boy, Murdoc fails to look away from the tall boy every time.





	1. Pretty Boy

Murdoc heaved as he hid in the corner of the cafe, he spotted the boys looking around for a few seconds before running down the sidewalk. He let out a sigh of relief, those assholes were nothing but trouble for him. The people in the cafe gave him strange looks as he left the corner, he glared them down as he went. He noticed the short line and took out the cash he stole from them and got in the line, Murdoc decided he deserved to splurge for all his trouble.

There was a woman dressed head to toe in pink and her hair was an ugly sight, but what made her even more insufferable was the fact that she was ordering this fancy coffee with her annoying high pitched voice that pissed Murdoc off. The worker looked confused by what she was saying. Poor bastard.

“Oi, lady, stop ordering a fucking novel. Would ya?” Murdoc snapped, towering over the woman to intimidate her. She gasped and quickly grabbed her purse, he chuckled as she scurried out of the cafe with complaints coming from her mouth.

He stepped in his rightful place in line and grinned at the lovely sight in front of him. A tall pretty boy around his age stood at the counter. Bright blue hair was unkempt on top of his head and one of his eyes was covered with a patch. He towered over Murdoc but he looked harmless and awkward as he held his notepad with long bony hands.

“Ah, thank you for that, but that wasn’t the best way to handle it.” Well, he was pretty until he started talking, but his voice carried a sort of charm and added to his unique appearance.

“Shut up! The old lady had it coming.” The pretty boy looked like he had more to say but he shook his head and held the pencil to the notepad.

“What would you like?”

“Whatever, just make it taste good.” Murdoc never had coffee before from what he hears it’s bitter while some coffee is sickeningly sweet. Not that he cares, he just wanted to burn the rich fuck’s money.

“Uh, I don’t really drink coffee-”

“I don’t need your fucking life story. Just get me a bloody coffee for fuck sakes!” Murdoc snarled, the pretty boy flinched and quickly went around the back making coffee with those fancy looking machines. He leaned against the counter and stared off into space. He tapped his foot against the wooden floors to the beat of the song, the music in this place isn’t half bad.

“I need your name.” He looked up and there was Pretty Boy, except he didn’t have his damn cup of coffee. Instead, he came back asking for his bloody name. There was no one else in line and the place wasn’t that busy, Pretty Boy was the only one working the cash register and making coffee. If he was interested then he had a bad way of hiding it, Pretty Boy was completely obvious. It was fine though, Murdoc enjoyed fooling around.

Murdoc chuckled and looked up into his blue eye, his lips stretched into his signature smirk.

“You want my digits with that too, love?”

Pretty Boy tilted his head in confusion and raised one eyebrow. It took a few seconds, but his one blue eye widened when he realized what Murdoc meant. His cheeks flushed a lovely shade of pink and he stuttered on his words. Guess his intentions aren't what Murdoc predicted.

“That’s n-not what I meant.” Pretty Boy’s face was as pink as the annoying lady’s clothes along with the tips of his ears.

“Alright! Quit your shitty stuttering, I’m Murdoc Niccals.”

Pretty Boy’s hands shook as he made eye contact with Murdoc, a fear most people had around him. He spoke in such a faint voice, Murdoc almost missed what he said. “I-I like your name. It suits you.”

Murdoc grunted and ignored the weird feeling the compliment gave him as he watched the tall boy turn back to make the coffee. This time he watches closely as Pretty Boy fumbled around with the machines until he came back with a red styrofoam cup with his name scribbled neatly on the side.

“Five pounds and fifty-nine pence.”

Murdoc snatched the coffee and slammed ten pounds on the counter. “Keep the change.”

“Have a good day!”

“Whatever,” Murdoc grumbled. He felt eyes burn in his back as he left the cafe, there was a small strange part of him that hoped Pretty Boy’s eyes were on him.

  


It was late when he arrived home. Murdoc slammed the door and threw the styrofoam cup on the floor when he came home. He heard faint noises of music coming from the living room, Hannibal would always bring down his turntable and blast music. His old man wouldn’t bat an eyelash as long as he had enough money to get his bottle of whiskey. It was absolute hell living here.

“Hannibal, if you don’t turn that shit off!” Murdoc shouted as he walked in the living room. His older brother was sitting on the couch near his turntable, Hannibal flipped him off and turned up the volume. He stomped over to the turntable and turned the volume all the way down.

Hannibal jumped up from the couch and grabbed his shirt, he brought his face close to Murdoc. He could smell the foul odor of cigarettes in his breath, along with a faint smell of the old man’s whiskey. “Touch it again and I’ll kill you, fucker!”

“Turn down your noise, asshole! I don’t want to hear your annoying shit.”

“My annoying shit? You listen to heavy metal, those fuckers scream, and you call that music.”

Murdoc was about to reply, but there were two heavy thuds coming from the top of the staircase that interrupted him. Both brothers looked up to see their youngest brother, Frederick standing at the top of the step with his fist to the wall.

“Would you two stop bloody arguing for five fucking minutes?”

Hannibal grumbled a few curse words and released his grip from Murdoc’s shirt, he fell back on the couch, turning up his music and lighting a cigarette. He took a big puff and blew it in Murdoc’s face with a ‘try me’ look in his eyes. Murdoc wanted nothing more than to put the twat in his place but he knew Frederick didn’t like them fighting. He resorted to flipping him off and leaving with an urge to punch something. He went up the stairs, pushing past Frederick and not stopping when his little brother started talking to him.

He went to his room and slammed the door shut. Murdoc sighed and dropped his bag on the floor by the door, this room was his haven. Without it, Murdoc surely would have snapped a long time ago. He went sat down at his desk and logged into his laptop. Above his desk was posters of famous singers and bands, Murdoc wanted nothing more than start a band and become famous. He leaned back and imagined women hanging off his arms as he strummed his bass with a smirk. The crowds would cheer his name and throw all their money in his direction. He chuckled, only in his dreams.

He signed into his laptop and scrolled through Instagram, Murdoc only had four posts and they were all pictures of him smoking or strumming his bass. He had fifty followers but he only ever messaged one of them and that was a girl named Paula Cracker. She played guitar and liked the same music as him, Murdoc never met her but he liked her photos or covers. Murdoc thought her singing voice was good but it’s not perfect for his dream band.

He clicked on her profile when he noticed a new post, except it wasn’t her typical picture with her guitar or cover of a band. It was a picture of a smiling boy sitting at a keyboard with the caption ‘@StuPot is too cute when he smiles’ his messy blue hair and the covered eye was all too familiar to Murdoc.

“Pretty Boy,” he muttered. He clicked on StuPot and was lead to his profile. His full name was Stuart Pot and he enjoyed music as much as Murdoc. Most of his posts were about bands but a few of them were with other people. He stood out amongst everyone in the pictures because of his bright blue hair, Murdoc caught himself almost following him.

 _The bloke only made you a cup of coffee, shithead._ Murdoc reminded himself, but he remembered the way he fumbled around awkwardly and how the pink spread across his face. He felt a similar weird feeling overcome him when he thought about how Stuart complimented his name. He slammed his computer shut and jumped into his bed. These thoughts were annoying and they weren’t leaving him alone.

He groaned and buried his face in his pillow, not bothering to change into pajamas. These feelings were nothing a good night sleep couldn’t handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I’m curiosityy and I’m new to the Gorillaz fandom. This is my first fanfiction and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! This fic will be long as hell so look forward for more to come. Kudos and comments brighten my day!


	2. Chapter 2

The sky was a light blue when Murdoc opened his eyes, he feels along his bed and finds his bed to find his phone. The screen flashes 11:00 am, Murdoc dropped the phone and closed his eyes again. He doesn’t even wake up this early for school. There was no noise coming from within the Niccals household, so that meant everyone was either gone or suffering from hangovers. Murdoc hopes it’s the ladder.

He gets up and stumbles out of his room, the house was too fucking quiet. He checks around the second floor. Frederick’s door was wide open and he wasn’t in there. Hannibal’s door was shut, but he always closed the door when he left or when he was in his room, so it was difficult to tell. His father’s door was closed to a crack and Murdoc peeked through and saw his father snoring with a blonde-haired bitch sleeping on his chest.

Hannibal and Frederick must’ve met her last night. He closed the door and went straight to the bathroom.

“Guess I’m getting another brother,” Murdoc grumbled as he took a piss. He shed his clothes from yesterday and hopped in the shower, Murdoc gagged when he stepped on something hairy. He begged to Satan that it was a spider, but instead, it was a huge clump of pubic hair.

“Fucking hell!” He screeched, moving his foot like he just burned himself. He stood away from the drain and grabbed his bottle of soap and fumed when it was empty. Murdoc barely took fucking showers, so his soap should still be a quarter way full. He chucked the bottle out of the shower and took Frederick’s soap. His day was just fucking beginning and he was already pissed off.

Murdoc was walking downstairs when he spotted his two brothers on the couch. They were watching TV with the volume down low, another sign they knew the old man brought home another bitch. Frederick looked back when he heard a noise coming down the stairs but turned around when it was only Murdoc.

“Which one of you twats left a ball of pubic hair and used up all my soap.” He growled.

“A man’s bollocks get hairy, Murdoc,” Hannibal replied, taking another drag of his half-burned cigarette. “I ran out of soap too and yours was just sitting there.”

“You used the whole bloody bottle!”

“It wasn’t like you were using it.” Murdoc was steaming over with anger. He can’t stand this fucking house with his fucking shitty ass older brother and drunk old man, they were all assholes. Frederick was the only one in the house, who didn’t make him want to commit a homicide. He cursed and left his house, making sure to slam the door on his way out.

He walked down the block with his headphones shoved in his ears, there were plastic bags and abandoned cans in the street that blew by with the cool autumn wind. They clattered against the street as children ran by screaming and playing. Murdoc glanced over at them but kept walking. There were a few dog walkers and the weirdos that took morning jogs that passed him.

His neighborhood wasn’t what most people would expect, it was a long street with nice big homes. The houses were filled with usually divorced parent arguing over custody, parents too busy to take care of their own children, cheating husbands, promiscuous wives, and single parents. The only similarity was that they all pretended to have that picture perfect family they dreamed of when in reality it was far from perfect.

Murdoc stopped at the bus pick up and waited for the morning bus to make it’s way around this way again. He always took this way to school because he hated riding the school bus, the kids were way too fucking loud for seven in the morning. Everyone was still among the sleep on this bus, so that meant it was quiet.

The red bus came and he got on. Mr. Billows, the bus driver, smiled at Murdoc.

“Good morning, my boy.”

“Morning, Mr. Billows.” He placed in his two pounds and went straight to his reserved window seat in the middle of the aisle on the right side. Mr. Billows was a kind chubby man that seemed to understand Murdoc’s situation, he always shooed away children and adults that tried sitting in his seat. It was Saturday morning and Murdoc always went to the Polymers or Euphoria, but Polymers was closed due to renovations and it wasn’t happy hour in Euphoria.

Murdoc was confused since the bus suddenly stopped but he realized his hand was on the lever. What the hell? He doesn’t know what suddenly pushed him to pull the lever but the bus stopped and everyone on the bus was staring at him. He tried to remember any of the stores that came down this street but none popped into his head. Regardless, he got up from his seat with a huff and glared down every person that was staring.

“Have a good day, Murdoc.”

“I’ll try.” He hopped off the bus with a wave and watched as the chubby man drove off. He walked down the block and read the signs of the stores, Murdoc lingered in front of the ones that interested him as he continued down the block. He was shocked to found himself in the same location as yesterday, the only difference this time is that he wasn’t being chased.

He heard a faint knock and turned around. Murdoc froze on the spot when he found himself in front of glass doors, there was Stuart wiping down the window. He saw Murdoc and smiled at him. He gave his best glare back but it didn’t falter the boy, instead, he pushed against the door and it opened.

“Good morning, Murdoc! You came back to visit?” Satan, how could someone be so fucking cheery early in the morning and especially towards Murdoc? He grunted in response and leaned against the brick wall. Pretty Boy came out completely and closed the door, he talked as he wiped down the glass doorway.

“Fuck no, I’m just passing by.”

“Are you back for more coffee? Hopefully, it wasn’t too bad.”

Murdoc’s mouth worked faster than his brain at that moment. “Tasted like shit.”

“That’s not what I was expecting,” Stuart muttered, turning his gaze down on cloth and Windex in his hand. Fuck! That’s not what he meant.

Murdoc wanted Satan to burst from the ground and drag him into Hell for causing the crestfallen look on Stuart’s face, the coffee wasn’t bad at all. It actually tasted delicious but he could’ve gone easier with all the sugar, Murdoc was sure that coffee was going to give him diabetes.

Stuart rambled apologies and gave him a small determined smile after he forced his mouth to stop spewing meaningless words. “I promise to make it better this time!”

The door pushed open again before Murdoc could respond. It was a tall muscular dark-skinned man wearing a dark green apron that said Tusspot Cafe on the front in neat cursive letters, the same one Stuart was wearing.

“Hey, Stu, what’s goin’ on?” A tall muscular dark-skinned man said, he glared down at Murdoc and studied him with narrowed white eyes. “Is he causing you trouble?”

“No! Don’t worry about it, Russ! He’s a customer I had yesterday. Murdoc, this is my good friend Russel Hobbs. He may look intimidating but I promise he’s a sweetheart!”

Russel held out his big hand and Murdoc took it and gave him a firm handshake, but it seemed like Russel’s grip was tighter. Stuart pulled on Russel’s arm. “Come on, Russ, we can’t leave Noodle with all the customers.”

Stuart hurried in the cafe when he saw the line that suddenly formed. Murdoc still held Russel’s hand and when he tried to take it away, the taller of the two tightened his grip and leaned forward until his warm breath was against his ear. “Your hurt Stu, I hurt you.”

Russel released Murdoc’s hand and went back inside the cafe. Murdoc scoffed and stared at Pretty Boy smile and greet customers, he shook his head and continued walking down the block, but not without taking a few extra seconds to stare at him.


	3. Chapter Three

The air was hot and thick with the smell of alcohol and sweat at the far side of the bar was clouds and clouds of smoke from people with cigarettes. Murdoc sat in a booth under a small hanging light with a small glass of whiskey. He gulped down his alcohol and enjoyed the hot sensation of burning in his throat. 

Murdoc spent the day sitting on a bench and listening to the homeless people perform with their treasured instruments, his favorite member was the haggard man with the attractive bass. It looked expensive but he snapped and cursed out anybody who came by asking for the price. The strangers would snatch back the money they dropped and the other three members would yell at him for making easy money go away. 

Sometimes they left early if the arguments got out of hand, but today was one of those peaceful days and they played until six. Murdoc left as soon as they did, he went straight to Euphoria for cheap alcohol and good food.

A waitress came over and filled up Murdoc’s empty glass, he brought it to his lips and took a sip.

“Well, if it isn’t my good friend, Murdoc Niccals.” A young tall green man with long dark slicked-back hair stood under the dimmed lights of Euphoria with a smile on his face. Murdoc gestured to the other side of the booth with a grin.

“Ace, how’s your lousy gang doing?”

“They’re not as good as you, Muds.” Ace Copular was one of Murdoc’s close friends from elementary school, they would bully little children and steal from adults all the time. The two of them made a promise to each other to defend and protect whenever the other way in trouble. They got into too much trouble in the second year of middle school and Ace took all the blame, which caused him to be expelled and Murdoc to be suspended for three weeks. Ace’s parents moved him away from Murdoc to a private school and then moved his close friend entirely.

Last year, he found Ace working at a music store. They got back together and kept contact with each other, Murdoc couldn’t visit as much as he would like too since Ace lived four hours away.

“Does mummy and daddy know you’re out here?”

“They’ll found out eventually. Mums and Pops ruined my life by moving me to that hellhole of a neighborhood and school. How’s your old man? Is he still drinking?”

“Is the sky still blue?”

“Yes.”

“There’s your answer.” Murdoc gulped back his third glass of whiskey, he started to feel warm and a bit impulsive, but he was still too sober.

Ace frowned at the sight of his close friend drinking. “You shouldn’t drink that shit, Muds.”

“A little alcohol won’t hurt anybody and don’t start preaching that shit about my old man. I couldn’t give two fucks the bastard.” He slammed the glass on the table with a wide smile.

The lights dimmed down low and a cute girl came on stage announcing that the stage was ready for karaoke night. On the stage was different instruments and tall microphone stands for anyone ready to perform. Murdoc slapped Ace’s shoulder and pointed at the stage.

“I’m about to find my singer, right there on that stage. I’m telling ya, buddy, once I find the perfect members for my band. I’m getting the fuck out of this place.”

“I do love a good karaoke session,” Ace replied.

The first group was a bunch of overweight boys that awkwardly played the instruments and sing the notes poorly, Murdoc was the loudest to boo them off of the stage. The second was a girl who was a decent guitar player but the voice was too high and pitchy for Wonderwall. The rest of the performances were either terrible or great, but none of them were what Murdoc was looking for. He chomped on some greasy fries and pizza that Ace ordered for them while the cute girl was getting more performers.

“Karaoke would be fun if I could sing.” Murdoc knew his friend was insecure about his voice but he was a good singer, but he couldn’t imagine him being the leader of his dream band no matter how close they were.

“It doesn’t matter if you can sing or not. What matters is talent. You see a bunch of blokes and birds who can’t sing for shit, but they’re like dirty rich little shits.”

“It’s because they’re attractive. Maybe if I was handsome then I could do it.” Ace rubbed his long pointy chin self-consciously.

“Those fuckers were blessed with their godlike appearances, we just need to show them that we don’t need to be pretty just to make a few pounds. We have talent compared to them.”

“You’re right.”

Murdoc laughed and downed another glass. “It took you this long to figure out Murdoc Niccals is always right?”

Ace rolled his eyes and noticed the cute lady talking with a group. “Aye, look the cute lady found someone.”

Murdoc’s heart stopped. It was Stuart, he was standing awkwardly at the keyboard fiddling with the microphone since it was too short. There were loud and obnoxious cheers coming from a booth across the room. He looked flustered at the attention his friends were giving him.

“He looks around our age, Muds. He’s a tall bloke, I wonder if the microphone goes that high. Look at his fucking hair, it’s so blue. Do you think the carpet matches the drapes.” Ace looked over at his friend and instead of a drunken giggle or grunt, he was gone. His eyes were completely focused on the blue-haired man on stage. He raised his eyebrow.

Stuart played a few notes until Murdoc could identify the song. He was playing Bohemian Rhapsody, that song went longer than five minutes if Murdoc remembered correctly. These five minutes will either be heaven or a long-lasting hell.

“Shouldn’t there be back up singers-”

“Shut your bloody trap!”

He took a deep breath and began singing.

His voice was deep and smooth, it was gentle as he hit the right notes. Nothing too harsh or too pitchy like the last performances, the way he looked out in the crowd with a nervous smile made Murdoc’s insides feel strange. Everyone else in the bar seemed to be drawn in by his singing, even Ace nodded his head to tune. Pretty Boy kept his head down and focused on the keyboard during the instrumental. He raised his head and began singing again, this time the crowd sung with him for the chorus. Murdoc enjoyed seeing Pretty Boy’s posture straightened and the nervous smile dissolve into a brighter one. The rest of the song was beautifully performed, the crowd cheered him on when he finished the song.

“Do another!”

“Please, you’re amazing!”

“Remember me when you’re famous.”

“Don’t forget, I was your fan before it was cool!”

Ace chuckled at the crowd of men and women crowding at the stage for Stuart, taking a quick sip of his glass of water. “The bloke was alright. What do you think, Muds?”

To his surprise, Murdoc wasn’t there. He went off to the bathroom without a word to him, his mind was pounding as he pissed. Stuart was his perfect singer for the band. He’s tall, pretty, and unique. Now all he needed to do was convince him to join.

The bathroom was filled with the sound of echoing voices before nothing at all. Murdoc looked behind his shoulder to the man on his mind. He turned back around and zipped up his pants.

“Well, if it isn’t the man of the hour,” Murdoc said as he went over to the sinks.

“Murdoc! You come to Euphoria too? It's good to see you again." Stuart leaned against the counters and smiled. "I'm still sorry about the coffee."

“Where’d you learn how to sing?"

“Oh! I guess I was gifted with a good voice. I never believed I was a good singer, y’know? My mum and dad would praise me but parents are always doing stuff like that.” Murdoc wouldn’t know from his mother’s absence and father’s abuse.

“Mm, well, how would you like to be in my band?” Murdoc must’ve been more drunk than he thought, his mouth was always working faster than his brain. Stuart looked surprised as well, his one eye-widening then he began sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

“Your band? I-I don’t think I’m good enough for you.”

“Nonsense! You’re tall and pretty and your hair stands out. You would make a perfect lead for any band."

“You think I’m pretty?” Stuart mumbled, his face a light shade of pink.

He leaned close to Stuart with a smirk, “don’t let it get to your head, Pretty Boy.”

Murdoc flicked water in his face before stepping past him and out of the bathroom. Ace was leaning against the wall a few inches beside the bathroom door and perked up when him.

“There you are! You were taking forever.”

“Fuck off.”

Ace wrapped his arm around Murdoc and pulled him close, “don’t be too grouchy! I’ll pay for your bus ticket and I can stay the night!”

Murdoc pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw four missed messages from Frederick and one from the old man. He kept walking as he read them over.

_ Annoying little shit: yo where are you? _

_ Annoying little shit: the bird just flew out of the house. i don’t think she’ll be back. _

_ Annoying little shit: dad is pretty pissed rn. hurry home! _

_ Annoying little shit: shit dad is really pissed now since he found all his alcohol was gone and hannibal blamed it on you _

Murdoc rolled his eyes and checked the last message

_ Old man: Murdoc where the bloody hell are you? If you don’t get your ass back to this house by ten. I’m punishing you. _

_ Murdoc: quit busting my bollocks. ace is staying the night, _

Murdoc turned off his phone and ignored the vibrations. Ace was still walking but he wasn’t doing his usual chattering, he was looking at him with concern in his eyes. “Your pops isn’t giving you a hard time, is he?”

“When is he not giving me a hard time, Ace? Don’t worry your greasy little head, I’m fine. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.”

“I guess that’s true.” He smiled and bumped his shoulder. “Now about the gangreen gang.”

Murdoc rolled his eyes. “Here we go.”

The two friends walked down the block with smiles on their faces as they chatted away, leaving the bar behind them. There was the bright shade of blue hair watching them as they went.

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first ever fanfiction for the Gorillaz fandom. i recently got into this fandom and im still pretty new, so please go easy on me a bit. i hope you enjoyed my first chapter and look forward for more to come!


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